PROMPT: "Was President Herbert Hoover Justified in Limiting the Bonus Army's First Amendment Rights?"---- ---------- -------The question "Was President Herbert Hoover justified in limiting the 1st Amendment rights of the Bonus Army?" is somewhat disingenuous in that it attempts to make the point that Hoover effectively limited the Bonus Army's First Amendment rights. The First Amendment specifically guarantees “the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for redress.” It does not provide for violent protest, nor does it prevent the government from moving people off public property. As soon as a protester threw bricks at a police officer, the movement as a whole ceased to be a peaceful demonstration. And while the government most certainly overreacted in this matter, it cannot be said to have committed a technical violation of the 1st Amendment. First, the Bonus Army knowingly embarrassed both the government and the people of Washington, DC. been compensated or not, the firefighters ...